Children are ready to learn to read when they are young and enjoy learning to read when they understand each step in the reading process, so that their cognitive growth is significatnly stimulated. This book presents the structural approach to teaching both reading readiness skills and reading and points out that teachers and parents must…

Organized into five sections, this book discusses how children learn to read and write and provides suggestions for parents on how they can nurture children's growth in these areas. Section 1, "How Children Learn To Read and Write," explains general principles that apply to all early age groups. This section discusses how oral and…

This practical guide for parents who care and want to help children learn to read and enjoy reading discusses ten ways in which parents and the home environment can influence reading habits and attitudes. These include: (1) encouraging the child while he or she reads, (2) reading aloud to the child and listening while he or she reads aloud, (3)…

Noting that children in literate societies all learn the sound-symbol relationships of their languages but that orthographies, sound-symbol relationships, and societal attitudes toward literacy differ, the essays in this book explore both the universal and the culturally constrained aspects of the process of learning to read. Following an…

Drawing on an array of research on the nature and development of reading proficiency, this book argues that educators need not remain trapped in the phonics versus teaching-for-meaning dilemma and offers instructional alternatives. The book proposes that phonics can work together with the whole language approach to reading and provides an…

This "kit" consists of 145 activities that teach and reinforce specific pre-reading and beginning reading skills; it has been developed to help the primary grade teacher in recognizing and developing skills that assure each child's continuous reading progress. Part One explains how pre-reading skills are developing reading skills in the…

Long ago the traditional way for Yakima Indian children to learn was by listening for long hours to the grandparents or other story tellers. In keeping with this auditory tradition, this book teaches pre-reading skills through use of sequenced pictures and stories that children will retell after learning. It helps the teacher assist Indian…

Focusing on the development of literacy, this book discusses the teaching of reading and writing through stories, songs, and poetry. It is argued that, to develop literacy, teachers must know what to teach, how to Teach efficiently, and how to assign practices through which children learn. The book is organized into three general parts. The first…

This nontechnical guide for parents and teachers examines learning to read from infants' babbling to the fluent reading of children reading independently for pleasure. Chapter 1, "Baby Speaks," describes language development in infancy. Chapter 2, "Our Alphabet: Language by Ear and by Eye," presents the alphabetic system and…